(quote) ED-20630 said: Where would we be without Vladimir Putin?...... Much, much better off.

I would comment that you must be kidding concerning your comments about Putin, but it seems that you're serious.

I agree with your comment about Pope Francis... and I hope that we get rid of the chemical weapons. But in regards to the fine qualities that you attribute to Putin, I think that you are very, very far off base.

Putin and Russia have their own interests in all of this. Their concerns about Christians have nothing at all to do with it, except as it may serve to further their other goals.

Your comments sound like a love letter to Putin. Sickening.

Ed

Ed,

Who protects the Christians in the Middle East? Certainly not the United States.

Does Putin have Russia's interest at stake here? Of course he does.

Does Obama have America's interest at stake here? Show me how.

Why not applaud the president who stands up for his country and for Christians, even if it isn't our president?

Who protects the Christians in the Middle East? Certainly not the United States.

Does Putin have Russia's interest at stake here? Of course he does.

Does Obama have America's interest at stake here? Show me how.

Why not applaud the president who stands up for his country and for Christians, even if it isn't our president?

(We're not at war with the Russians; what's the problem with it?)

William,

Unfortunately, we are stuck with Obama for the next 3+ years. I don't like him. I don't trust him. I don't think that he cares much at all about Christians (especially Catholics) around the world (or here in the U.S). I think that Obama is rather embarrassed by "unwashed" Americans. I think he will not be happy with the U.S. until/unless he can transform it into something that will not be recognizable to Americans of the past. I think he is very poorly qualified to be president, and it is very apparent, especially concerning this whole mess with Syria.

On the other hand, Putin was head of the KGB in the Soviet Union and has a great deal of nasty history since then. If I had written such things that I have written about Obama as citizen of the Soviet Union under the enforcement of Putin's KGB, I could have very likely found myself doing hard labor in a camp for many years of my life. Putin doesn't care about Christians. They are simply a convenient means to his own ends. Certainly you must know about the extensive persecution of Christians throughout the Soviet Union era. This is the same Putin. He did not have a morality transplant when the Soviet Union collapsed. This is the same person with whom we are dealing now. Putin could have done many things over the years to dissipate/eliminate this mess in Syria. He has only made things worse.

I agree with John. His words >>>>> "William, you give Putin way too much credit."

(quote) Elizabeth-114955 said: Even though Assad has free reign to use conventional methods to fight this civil war at least the U.S. is left out of it. Saudi Arabia and Qatar have both been pouring billions into this war for their own gain and if they want Assad out of office, than they should do their own fighting.

Elizabeth:

It is feared that we have already taken sides by sending weapons from Benghaziin Egypt, to Turkey, for the use of the rebels in Syria.

I am afraid America has helped in the fighting to take Assad down. Now thePresident wants to do more to overturn Assad.

(quote) John-971967 said: I put no stock in Putin, but William does raise an eyebrow when an American prefers Putin's actions above those of Obama's. Essentially, what does it say about Obama?!

At this juncture, Obama needs to keep the heat on both Syria's Assad and on Putin. Does Putin really want Assad standing next to him, after what he just did?

I think that it was by shear accident, or perhaps more likely by these recent efforts of Pope Francis that we have arrived at this discussion of securing the chemical weapons in Syria (and stopping further production of them) within the last few days. However we arrived here, it seems very worthwhile to me to see if Putin and Asaad (spelling?) are really serious or just stalling for more time. I think that they will certainly want something very big from us in return..... not just that we agree not to fire cruise missiles at Syria. I think that we will soon find that their conditions are very unpalatable and probably not acceptable,..... but I hope that I'm wrong.

Your question >>> Essentially, what does this say about Obama? I think Obama is in so far over his head on this issue. I think he is quite an amateur as compared to Putin, concerning this issue. I think that he believes himself to be a wisest man in the room, but is unable recognize that he is anything but that. I don't trust him with a Swiss army knife, much less a cruise missile. In my opinion, it will be a very long 3+ years. I hope that we can recover from whatever messes lie ahead of us in these coming years.

Just as one example.... I'll bet that never in the history of warfare over the last 10,000 years has any leader (and his/her administration) characterized an imminent military action as "unbelievably small" (John Kerry, yesterday) and and then followed up, mere hours later by announcing that our military "does not do pinpricks" (Obama, today). It just sounds so ridiculous. No one would ever write such lines into a movie.... It would just sound to stupid and unbelievable to be taken seriously. I'll bet this made Putin laugh out loud.

(quote) John-971967 said: I put no stock in Putin, but William does raise an eyebrow when an American prefers Putin's actions above those of Obama's. Essentially, what does it say about Obama?!

At this juncture, Obama needs to keep the heat on both Syria's Assad and on Putin. Does Putin really want Assad standing next to him, after what he just did?

John,

I have to be brief here.

As Catholics, we should all be applauding Putin's actions over Obama's (yes, even if we question the motive). Obama was banging the drums for an attack on yet another mideast country, and on the flimsiest of evidence. It was Putin who was urging restraint (taking the Catholic position here).

Let's keep in mind that when Pope Francis wanted to reach out to a world leader and send a letter urging him to slow down the push towards this attack, he didn't send the letter to Obama (the president of the superpower that was moving towards an attack), he sent the letter to Putin. www.news.va